In food processing facilities, it is typically necessary to select a single article or food item from a bulk load of such food items and to grade, or weigh or measure some attribute of the food item so that it can be placed into a group along with other food items having the similar attribute. This is done for purposes of pricing the food item or for meeting particular specifications related to the food item. To accomplish this task of measuring an attribute of a food item, it has typically been necessary to select the food item from a bulk group of similar type items and to move the isolated item from a first location to a conveyor which will move the food item past a device for measuring the attribute of interest. For example, in food processing, a prior art article-feeding device is available which is used to transfer bodies of semi-rigid or non-rigid structure and having a slippery surface and irregular shape, such as chicken parts, from one conveyor to a second conveyor. On the second conveyor the weight of the body or chicken part is measured. A device for performing this transfer operation from a first location onto a conveyor can be found and examined in U.S. Pat. No. 5,725,082 to Connell (1998) the specification of which is incorporated herein by reference. It should be appreciated that the device described in the Connell patent simply transfers the object or food item from a bulk retention area to a conveyor which then carries the item to another location or to a point at which the weight of the item may be measured. A device similar to the Connell device is shown in FIG. 2 at reference number 28. Other prior art article-feeding machines such as those found in U.S. Pat. No. 3,941,233 to Aluola, et al. (1976) and U.S. Pat. No. 5,381,884 to Spatafora, et al., (1995) transfer objects that arrive at the article-feeding machine in spaced fashion on a first conveyor prior to transfer. Then, via suction, these machines pick up the article and transfer the article to a second conveyor. In none of these article-feeding machines does the machine, during the transfer process, perform any measurement or analysis of any attribute of the article being transferred.
As a result of this single-purpose activity of such prior art article-feeding machines, it is necessary to use additional pieces of equipment within a process line which; receive the item from the article-feeding machine; transfer the item to a point at which analysis of the attribute is made; and an apparatus to carry the article away from the analysis point. This additional equipment adds to the processing cost and adds to the space used by a food article process line. The additional equipment increases the maintenance costs of a food article process line as the additional equipment requires maintenance and cleaning.
Therefore, it would be a benefit to provide within such article-feeding or article-transfer machines a means for measuring an attribute of the article being transferred to allow increased efficiency of a food process line.
Another benefit of inclusion of an attribute measuring device within an article-feeding machine is that the size and space requirement of a food processing line could be reduced.
Yet another benefit of including an attribute measuring device within an article-feeding machine is that additional equipment needed to transfer and to measure the attribute in the prior art food processing line can be eliminated thus reducing the cost of the food processing line and the maintenance cost of the food processing line.
Other advantages and benefits of the present invention will become apparent upon examination of the detailed description of the preferred embodiment as well as the drawings included herewith.